Keystone Commercial Funding

How it works

Six stages, and you will always know which one you are in.

What clients value most is knowing where they stand. This page sets out exactly what happens at each stage, what we need from you and what you can expect from us — so there are no quiet weeks.

The six stages

  1. Stage 1

    The first call

    20 minutes

    What the asset is, what you are paying or what it is worth, what you are trying to do and how the facility gets repaid. Who is borrowing — you, a company, an SPV, a pension.

    You will get a straight view on that call. Where the shape needs adjusting — a different facility, a stronger exit, a revised structure — we will show you what would work rather than leave you guessing.

    From you
    Nothing prepared. Just the numbers you already know.
    From us
    A clear read on what is achievable, and roughly what it costs.

  2. Stage 2

    Terms, in writing

    1 to 3 working days

    We approach named lenders with soft criteria checks — no credit footprint — and come back with real indicative terms: rate, fees, term, loan to value and the conditions attached.

    Alongside them you get the total cost to your expected redemption or the end of the fixed period, including our fee. Not a monthly payment, and not a range.

    From you
    A decision on which structure you want to pursue.
    From us
    Named lenders, real terms, total cost in writing.

  3. Stage 3

    Packaging the case

    3 to 10 working days

    This is where most of the value sits. We assemble the submission the way that lender's credit team reads a case, with anything awkward addressed up front and explained.

    A CCJ, a late filing, a tenant in arrears or a title defect are all workable when they arrive with context attached. Presented properly, they rarely change the answer.

    From you
    Documents. The list is on the preparation guide.
    From us
    A submission an underwriter can say yes to without coming back.

  4. Stage 4

    Valuation and underwriting

    2 to 6 weeks

    The lender instructs a valuer and their credit team works through the file. On development facilities the monitoring surveyor's initial report happens here too, and it can resize the facility.

    Most delays live in this stage and most of them are about availability rather than decisions — valuation slots, access to the property, a surveyor's diary. We chase all of it and tell you where the file actually is.

    From you
    Access to the property, and quick answers to any queries.
    From us
    Weekly updates whether or not there is news.

  5. Stage 5

    Offer and legals

    2 to 5 weeks

    The formal offer is issued and both sets of solicitors begin — yours and the lender's, both at your cost, as is standard on commercial lending. This is where unregistered titles, missing rights of way, absent freeholders and unsatisfied charges tend to surface, and where an experienced solicitor is worth a great deal.

    We sit between the two firms, chase requisitions and undertakings, and translate where needed. It is unglamorous, and it is often the difference between four weeks and nine.

    From you
    A solicitor who does this regularly, and same-day responses.
    From us
    Both firms kept moving, and the offer conditions tracked to zero.

  6. Stage 6

    Drawdown, and after

    Ongoing

    Funds move. On a bridge we diarise the exit and start working on it well before the term ends rather than in the final month. On a development facility we stay on the file for every stage release.

    A case is not finished at drawdown, because the parts that protect your return come afterwards. Staying on the file for those is the whole reason this firm exists.

    From you
    Tell us early if anything changes.
    From us
    The exit worked on from day one, not from month ten.

The honest total

How long the whole thing takes.

These assume a clean title and a responsive solicitor. Where something is more involved we will say so on the first call, so the timeline you plan around is a real one.

How to shorten it: the preparation guide

Enquiry to drawdown

Bridging
2–6 weeks
Valuation slots and title work set the pace, not the lender.
Asset finance
1–7 days
The fastest facility we arrange. Same-day decisions are routine.
Invoice finance
1–3 weeks
Ledger review and a debenture, then same-day funding thereafter.
Development
4–10 weeks
The monitoring surveyor's initial report sits inside this.
Commercial mortgage
6–12 weeks
Trading performance or a lease assessed alongside the property.
Acquisition
8–16 weeks
Due diligence and the share purchase agreement, not the debt.

What you can hold us to

Four things, on every case.

  1. 1You hear from us weekly, whether or not there is news — so you always know where the file is.
  2. 2Every fee — ours, the lender's, the valuer's, both solicitors' — is in writing before you commit to anything.
  3. 3No hard credit search until you have seen terms and told us to submit.
  4. 4If anything changes, you hear it that day — with the options that keep it moving.